Labor bickers over call to drop emissions target

The Labor Party is at war over climate change policy, with frontbencher Mark Butler moving to shut down speculation it will abandon ambitious emissions targets and reach a “political settlement” with the Liberal Party.

Labor ran a “doomsday” advertisement at the last f
ederal election, which opened with the words “climate
change” before running images of natural disasters
including bushfires, floods and cyclones. 

Labor frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon is calling for the ALP’s target of a 45 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030 to be slashed down to the Liberal’s own target of 28 per cent. Labor has previously claimed Australia cannot meet the Paris Agreement commitments on that trajectory.

Mr Fitzgibbon blindsided the party with the speech outside of his portfolio area, warning that Bill Shorten’s ambitious plans had left voters “scared and confused”.

“Labor needs to reach a sensible settlement on climate change. How many times are we going to let it kill us?” he said.

Read the story from The New Daily by Samantha Maiden - “Labor bickers over call to drop emissions target.”

(I weep - Robert McLean)

Authority splits over report commissioned by Coalition

Climate Change Authority members Anthea
 Harris, Professor David Karoly and Professor
 Clive Hamilton in 2012. Karoly and
Hamilton plan to issue a dissenting
 report on how the government
can meet its emissions reduction target.

A Climate Change Authority review charged with advising the government on how to meet its climate change commitments has led to an unprecedented split in its top ranks, with two of the body’s 11 members writing a dissenting “minority report”.

Guardian Australia understands the official Climate Change Authority report will recommend Australia adopt an intensity-based trading scheme for electricity generators.

A similar scheme was taken to the 2016 election by the Labor party, and was also proposed by Malcolm Turnbull in 2009 when he was opposition leader. Many believe it is a promising way to form a bipartisan approach to climate policy.

Read The Guardian story - “Climate Change Authority splits over ETS report commissioned by Coalition.”

Labor leader calls for serious response to climate change

Labor Party leader, Bill Shorten, spoke in the Australian Parliament on the need for real action on climate change.

Labor's Bill Shorten - he has called for a
meaningful response to climate change.

In a release about the speech he said: “There is no doubt that our earth is warming and our seas rising – or that humankind is the cause.

“And if we do not act, the consequences will be severe.

“Governments of the world, both progressive and conservative, are making their choice clear.

“Today, 39 national and 23 sub-national jurisdictions have implemented or are on track to implement carbon pricing instruments, including emissions trading schemes.

“But” Mr Shorten said, “The Abbott Government’s staggering display of blustering arrogance and craven incompetence in the Senate has made one thing abundantly clear”.

He said the Australian Labor Party Only was the one political party in Australia with a serious, substantial and credible climate change policy.

Mr Shorten said Labor believed the science and would continue to fight for real action on climate change – for an emissions trading scheme.

“It is the policy we took to the last election, and it is what our amendments moved again in the Parliament today will deliver”.

He said inaction would be a disaster for the Australian economy and our environment, bringing on a disaster that guarantees Tony Abbott will be remembered forever for his environmental vandalism.

Listen to and watch Mr Shorten’s speech.